


Ghosts

by SimmeringSun



Category: Hyper Light Drifter
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Graphic Depictions of Illness, M/M, Major Illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-12 22:30:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13556934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimmeringSun/pseuds/SimmeringSun
Summary: The world was crumbling; this Alt knew very well. Why is was crumbling it what she wanted to find out.





	1. Chapter 1

The world was crumbling; this Alt knew very well. Why is was crumbling is what she wanted to find out. She was a drifter after all. She has always been mesmerized and drawn to all the mysterious wonders of the world. It blinded her from the awful state of things, so she chased after the past with vigor.

On her quest to figure out what had caused this world to become the way it was, she crossed many texts that told her hints of the answer. Scavenged texts spoke of titans that caused ruin. Every drifter knew of the story of how the titans were eventually taken down. What many drifters weren’t aware of was the monster that has remained. But she knew, and she was determined to defeat it.

A residue of what those experiments left behind lay deep underground in that land divided in four. Supposedly it succumbed in the middle of it all, and this Alt didn’t doubt when she saw the inscription that lay in the middle of the town. 

The first thing she noticed was that the inscription looked oddly incomplete. Three pillars stood high and proud, each holding an arrow that pointed in a different direction. The one that pointed south lay on the ground. Someone must have been here before her to try and get to the monster. She wondered if they were still there.

She took out one of her notebooks from her satchel and copied down the inscription to the best of her ability. She always wrote down notes and drew pictures about the past in her notebook. When she died, she’d have something to show and leave the world.

When she was done she decided to make her way down south to see if she can find any clues as to why that pillar was still not up.

She crossed over some paths and made her way down that dirt road. She saw another drifter standing a little to the side of the road. She found herself curious. Was the drifter that had made the other three pillars rise? He stood still, looking down at the ground. She went up to him.

“Fellow Drifter, what do you know about that inscription in the middle of the central town?”, She asked. This drifter was quite tall. He wore a fluffy pink cloak with a red one draped on top. The red one looked way too small to be on him.

“It’s unfinished.”, The drifter says. Wow, this guy was helpful.

“And are you finishing it?”, Alt asks.

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. I’m going on a trip to see my love soon.”, He says.

“Well, then I can finish it. How do you finish it?”, Alt says. She was getting a bit inpatient with this man’s vague responses.

He looks over at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

“You must find at least four modules and raise the great pillar. Getting all the modules will unlock ancient doors though.”, He says. 

“Interesting. I’ll find them.”, Alt says without doubt.

“I know where two of them should be. Do you have a map?”, The man asks.

Alt looks through the countless maps in her satchel and takes out the one for the area. The drifter circles two places on the map with a pencil.

“Then I shall start immediately.”, Alt says. She half expects the man to insist on coming with but he doesn’t. He just nods and looks at the ground once more.

As Alt makes her leave she can hear him coughing behind her. She spares a glance over her shoulder and watches as blood comes out with each cough he makes. Ah, so he had that disease. Alt made a mental note to get all the information she can out of the man before he dies.

Before Alt goes to the locations he pointed out, she searched the land to make sure there were no other modules around. She took notes on the side of her map when she encountered locked doors and marveled at the landscape. As it got a bit darker she realized something important: she didn't even know what modules looked like.

She cursed under her breath and made her way back, hoping that man was still there. Just her luck, he wasn’t. She decided to go back to the town and see if any of the locals knew where the man would be.

“Do you know where the drifter with the pink coat would be?”, She asked the gun-shop owner. He raised an eyebrow.

“Why would you like to know?”, He asks her accusingly.

“We’ve been sharing information. I need to ask him some questions.”, She says. 

“Guardian has saved me before. He’s saved a lot of us before from the monsters that roam these lands. I don’t want you to cause him any trouble.”, He says.

“I hold no conflicts with the man.”, She says. Guardian was his name then. He must be one of those drifters that help people as they go along. A sense of respect grew in her. She was never that type of drifter.

“Hm, I suppose Guardian can hold his own if you are not truthful. I’m sorry for my rudeness but Guardian has been going through time lately and I don’t want to add to it.”, The shop owner says a bit sheepishly. “He lives on the house on the upper left corner of the town.

A drifter having a home? That was unheard of to Alt.

“Thank you.”, Alt says and she heads out.

When she made it to the house as the shop owner had instructed, she knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door is opened.

“Oh.”, Guardian says as he opens the door. Was he expecting someone else?

“Sorry to intrude, but you didn’t even bother to tell me what the modules looked like.”, Alt says.

“The handle is a pink diamond and you pull it out of the ground to activate it.”, Guardian responds.

“Thank you, Guardian. I shall go out and look for them now.”, She says with a nod.

“How do you know my name?”, He asks.

“I know a lot of things.”, She said and snickered inside her head. Such an omniscient thing to say.

He looks at her with such a frozen stare, as if the phrase reminded him of something.

“Well, it is late. You are welcome to stay in my home for the night.”, Guardian says.

“And you’re not scared that I’m going to do anything?”, Alt says and Guardian shakes his head.

“I have nothing left to lose.”, He says and it gives Alt chills. It reminded her of him coughing earlier. He said that he was going to visit a loved one. She wondered where they were and why they weren’t there for Guardian when he obviously needed them.

“Well, I suppose I’ll take you up on your offer.”, Alt says with a nod. 

Guardian takes out a sleeping bag and hands it wodlessby to Alt. They both pretend to sleep for a few hours before they drift off to sleep.

When Alt wakes up the next morning, Guardian isn’t there. She quickly gets up and checks her stuff and is relieved to see that everything is still there. She still had some doubts when it came to the other drifter.

She steals an apple from Guardian’s kitchen and heads out.

When she makes her way to the south she sees Guardian standing there yet again. He’s staring at a spot on the ground like it’s the most captivating patch of dirt in the world. 

He was starting to remind Alt of a living ghost, always haunting that spot on the road.

“You can help me get all the modules you know. You did all the other ones, why did you stop?”, She asks the man.

“I did not do those. They were all done by him.”, Guardian says. He still looking at the ground.

“So you didn’t find all the modules?”, Alt says in surprise. Guardian doesn’t answer.

She thinks about asking Guardian just who “him” was and where he can find him, but she doesn’t. It felt like something heavy made it’s way in the air, as if it were surrounding Guardian. She didn’t like it. It made her heart race and the gears in her mind stop. So she made her way away from the man and went to find the modules.

The places marked on the map were actually very helpful in Alt’s quest in finding the modules. She managed to find both of them that day. Many dirks and various monsters stood in her way but she defeated them with ease. 

“This will be my legacy.”, She mumbled to herself as she marked a path that she would go on tomorrow. “I will defeat that monster that lives below.”

When she makes her way back to Guardian’s house, she notices a couple of flowers placed where Guardian always stood. She bent down and picked them up. They were placed there by someone. She didn’t understand why but she felt like it was terribly wrong to not leave the flowers there. She places them back and goes on her way.

She lays down on the sleeping bag and sleeps.

It became a bit of a routine, those days that she searched the land.

She woke up to an empty house, met Guardian on that road, and went to go explore. Each night she found herself making her way back to that house, and each night she found herself trusting Guardian. She kept reminding herself that he was going to die. It became a sort of a mantra.

“Don’t befriend this man.”, Her mind would tell her. “He will undoubtedly die.”

One morning when the house was unsurprisingly empty, she decided to search around. She still didn’t a hundred percent trust Guardian’s motives.

She opened the wardrobe and found a hat. It was pretty small and had a weird inscription on the front. This couldn’t possibly be Guardian’s. She rummaged deeper and found a satchel. She curiously opened it up and found a small notebook inside.

She opened it up and her blood froze when she saw what was inside. It was a map, with every single module in three of the quadrants of the map. 

She quickly flipped through the pages, hoping to find some sort of clue about the southern modules. So many wonderful details about the land were written in the book that it almost made Alt giddy. History and ruins were such wondrous things, and here it all was at the ends of her fingertips. But as she reached the last used page she saw that the person stopped their descriptions at the Eastern side.

“Drifter”

That was what the notebook was signed in. Alt cursed. That was the most unhelpful signature to have in a world of many drifters.

She pocketed the notebook and rummaged the closet more.

She only found a sword, a drawing, and some books inside. The drawing was of flowers. Beautiful flowers colored in blue. It had that same troublesome signature that seemed to mock her: Drifter.

Alt began to wonder who this person was and why Guardian had their stuff. Did Guardian steal these? Alt frowned at this thought, but it seemed likely. Why else would he have this stuff? 

Alt found herself trusting the man so this discovery was quite disappointing. She made sure she was not quick to jump to judgement though. Perhaps he had scavenged it off a dead drifter. Besides, who was she to judge? She’s stolen many times. She even just stole a potentially stolen notebook. She snickered a bit at this thought and made her way south. She needed some answers.

“Did you steal this?”, She asked as she held out the notebook towards Guardian. He looked at the notebook in surprise and then his eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Why do you have that?”, He asked. His rumbling voice usually so soft and smooth seemed to seep with anger. Alt had never heard the man angry before now.

“I got it from your closet.”, She says bluntly. “It has some great information in here. I need to meet the person who wrote it. So if you stole it, tell me.”

“I did not steal it.”, He says as he forcefully snatches the notebook away. His hands were shaking. “And if you want to meet the man who wrote it then look down.”

Alt looked down, confused. This was just the same patch of dirt that Guardian stood by every morning. She looked down at the slightly uneven dirt and saw those blue flowers and her mind clicked the pieces together.

“Oh shit.”, she said out loud.

This was no ordinary patch of dirt. This was a grave.

Alt took a minute to process the revelation. Guardian has been standing at a grave every day. She felt like kicking herself for not realizing it. It was a shame that this person was dead. He must have had some great information.

“So he died.”, She says lamely. “What from?”

“What I will soon die from.”, He says. So he has already accepted his fate? What a smart man.

“I don’t get it. Wouldn’t he have wanted you to finish the job?”, She asked.

“He did, but not for the reason you think.”, He says. There he goes again with that vagueness.

“I know what’s down there.”, She says and smirks when Guardian seems to freeze at those words. “I know the monster is hiding beneath there.”

“That’s not the main reason Drifter wanted me to go down there.”, He says as he turns around and starts to walk away. “And you’re mistaken. That monster is everywhere.”

She cursed and forced herself not to ask more questions. Alt couldn’t help but think of Guardian as a coward. Sure, he was going to die, but that did not mean he had to give up. She looked down of the grave of this man who must have cared so much for Guardian. He must be rolling in his grave.

Alt nodded at the mound of dirt. 

“So he refused to do what you wanted huh? I might not know exactly what’s down there but I’ll get there.”, Alt said. Promising dead men things was a dangerous thing. Promising things to dead men who you don’t even know is worse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alt strives towards her goal and meets a dead guy.

For the next couple of days as Alt scavenged through the broken landscapes, she couldn’t help but think about those words Guardian said. The supposed answers that the man provided were torturous and only brought up more questions. It was like some sort of twisted riddle game, and it made Alt think that man didn’t even want her to find what was down there in the first place.

The man in the grave knew what was down there. He must have written what it was in that notebook he had left behind. But it was now in the clutches of that man who was insistent on doing nothing despite every push. Alt couldn’t help but hate this man. He knew very well that the notebook would have helped her, yet he decided to take it away and hide it away again. What was it like to have all of your achievements locked away?

Alt shook her head as she made her way to find the other modules. She was not here to analyze a silent lovers spat or to interpret passive phrases. No, she was here to clear the air, save this world, and mark her name on the top of history. Nothing more, nothing less.

So she collected the modules and marked them upon her own map.

“That's not the real reason Drifter wanted me to go down there.”

Just what the hell did he mean by that?

Alt meant to go find out. She meant to go by that grave and ask that lone figure. But someone else was there. Someone stripped of all he had on his back and laid on the ground for all to see.

There were worms. Alt could've swore there were worms and bugs crawling in his very skin that was blue and decaying. Traces of white hair that haven't decayed yet stuck to his head. Those eyes that have seen and explored so much were closed.

“Fuck.”, Alt muttered as she breathed through her mouth and resisted the urge to vomit. A grave robber must’ve come.

This would mess Guardian up. It would render him numb and speechless in her quest of knowledge. That would certainly not do. So she pushed the body back in the hole and into the birch casket. With her bare hands, she pushed the dirt back in the hole.

“What are you doing?”, A voice asks. It is shaken and teetering on a sort of rage that made Alt go in a defensive position.

“A gave robber came.”, Alt said calmly as she looked up at Guardian. “And I was putting his body back.”

Guardian seemed to consider this with that same seething rage before deflating. 

He silently went over and began to help Alt put the dirt back in the hole.

“He had nothing.”, Guardian began. “He had nothing but his sword, the clothes on his back, and a heart that radiated hope.”

Guardian is just staring at the hole now.

“You know what he told me the first day he met me? He said, ‘'Me and you, we’re both islands, we already know our fates. But that doesn't mean we can't move these giant rocks and touch the roaring waves of other people’s fates.” Who talks like that? Who else could make you question your goals and hopes so fast?”, Guardian says. He's crying under that mask for sure. Alt swallows. She does not know what to say.

“If I go down there, will you come with me?”, She decides to ask.

“No.”, He says. “I can't go to where he has not. I can't move this rock no more.”

Alt narrows her eyes. This confirmed her suspicions: this man was weak.

So she patted the dirt ground, gave a nod to Guardian, and made her way to continue her work.

Eventually, Alt’s goal drifted close. She just needed two more modules before that door would open. Two more modules until everyone would know her name.

She had everything so close enough to touch, so who could blame her when she was a little distracted that day? Who could blame her when she got one of the modules and felt giddy because the other one was so close by?

She was battered and her health ping was beeping. So the attack from one of the bird cultists from behind made her go down. As her world faded to black, she thought she saw a black dog walk towards her from a distance.

When she awoke with a gasp she felt liquid. Liquid surrounded her and seeped into her cloak. She got up quickly, the colored water splashing slightly under her feet. Her heart pounded as she took in her surroundings. There was nothing but red water in every direction, except the South.

“Hey! Where am I?”, She asks the figure in red. He is standing still, looking up at the blue sky.

The man looks over to her and blinks. He looks a little disappointed.

“Dead I suppose. Dead in an empty world.”, He said. His skin was blue and white curls stuck out of the hat he wore. The image of the body drifted back in her mind.

“Drifter.”, She breathed. “I'm dead. Oh god, I'm dead.” 

“How did you-”, He begins but stops himself and pats her back. “Hey, it's alright. I don't think you're dead. You're still breathing.”

“Breathing.”, She muttered as she tried to control her breath. “This is a weird dream.”

“Yeah, I think you'll be alright. You will be alright.”, Drifter says in a comforting tone. It was odd how this short man made Alt feel oddly comfortable.

When Alt calmed down Drifter asked the big question.

“How do you know my name?”, he asked.

“Guardian.”, She says. “All he talks about is you.”

“Guardian. So you've met him too?”, He asks with a relieved laugh. “Is he ok?”

Alt considers her words carefully. She could tell him a lie, make a possibly dream created dead man happy. Or she can tell the truth.

“He's a mess. All he does is stare at your grave. Stare at your grave and give up.”, She says. Drifter’s eyes go wide with shock before tears stop forming. Alt curses in her head. She doesn't know how to comfort people.

“Huh, so he is? I told him. I begged him at my dying breath to get it. But he's not going to try?”, He says. His voice is raspy with choked back tears.

“I'll try more to convince him.”, She says quickly. It felt wrong to see this man cry.

“You will..and I will be forever grateful.”, He says with a smile, sharp fangs sticking out.

“Yeah, whatever. I'll force him down there if I have to. But what is down there?”, She asks.

“Something that is corrupting this land. It followed me my whole life and follows almost everyone in secret.”, He says. He's about to say what is before Alt wakes up with a choking gasp.

She sputters and looks around. Her surrounding are moving around her but she's completely still. She looks up and sees him.

“Guardian.”, She says.

“You're awake.”, He says with a cough as he continues to run. There's a flock of birds behind them.

“Let me down.”, She says “We'll attack them together.”

Guardian looks weary at these words but nods and let's her down.

The two both take their positions and swing.

The birds go flying back and crashing into the dirt ground. Alt sighs as she wipes the splattered blood off her face.

“How did you find me?”, She asked.

“I needed to talk to you so I went to find you. I found you on the floor, surrounded by the birds and clinging to death.”, He says. 

“So have you decided to stop being a coward?”, She asked. Guardian lets out a breathy laugh.

“I suppose so.”, He says.

“Good. You wouldn't want to break a promise right?”, She says with a knowing smile and Guardian gives her a questioning look but asks nothing. 

The two walk forwards together and look at the module glowing at their feet, begging to be picked up. The two nod at each other before releasing it from the ground. 

“It's time.” She says as she looks at the faint glow of the last nodule. Guardian offers a nod.

She scribbles down some notes on her map and two transport back to the warp pad in the town.

The two look at the middle of the town. Everybody seems to be looking in the middle of the town. Four proud pillars stand up, and in the middle the edges of an elevator can be seen.

“I suppose we're going down.”, He says as they approach the elevator.

“Yes.”, She says. This was the doorway to her life's purpose. 

The two stand next to each other on the elevator and make their way down into the abyss.

It's cold down there. It rattled her bones and seemed to go through her insides. The very air seemed to be judging her as they reached the ground. Guardian began to cough.

The two walked down a corridor, at edge at every moment. Something lurked down here.

“It followed me all my life..”, Drifter had said. How could someone breathe in this awful air for so long?

They passed by scattered stones and decaying walls until they reached a room with a stone glowing proudly at the far face of the wall.

“It's here.”, Guardian said with a gasp as he walked towards it. Alt’s stomach churned. That awful air seemed to condense in the room. It made it hard to breathe. The feeling suddenly seemed to explode inside of her, and soon the room around was in static.

All the awful air in the room condensed in a great big cloud with a single blinking eye in the middle. It stared at her with that piercing gaze, as if gazing at a meal. She couldn’t move. It felt like as if every breath she took, every fidgety shake was all wrong in the eyes of this creature.

She snapped out of her fear when Guardian’s coughing began to get worse. He was heaving greatly, blood spilling from his chapped lips and staining the floor red. He was on his knees, reaching out towards that stone that still shone on the wall despite it’s dark surroundings.

“Guardian, stand back. I will defeat this monster.”, She said with wavering confidence. She slowly went into an attack position, putting one hand out as if it would shield Guardian from the presence of this monstrous thing. It spreads around in the room once again.

“I wonder what he would have did.”, Guardian says through broken coughs. “What he would have done in my place.”

“Stop it. Stop saying shit like that.”, She bites out through her stress. “He wouldn’t want you saying that.”

She gasped as Guardian’s wrenching coughs died down and was replaced with a static that absorbed all of her senses.

“How can you judge him for caring, when you don’t care for anyone?”, The static bubbled. 

“What.”, She said out loud. “Show yourself!”

“If I do show myself what could you do? Even Drifter, the dead man who’s aspiration and goal you stole and claimed for yourself couldn’t face me.”, It said. Alt’s mind reels as she tries to carefully follow her hand prepared with a beam to where she believes the sound is coming from. But it’s coming from all sides and the words it’s saying are drawn from somewhere deep in her mind.

“I did not steal his goal. This is my own goal that I’ve held. I am not doing this for him or to carry out his legacy, nor am I doing this because I feel bad for his boyfriend. I’m doing this to put my own name in history. And it all starts with defeating you.”, She says. Guardian is still coughing besides her, succumbing to the dense air. So she ignores him and starts swinging her beam towards the clouds.

They hiss as her beam goes through them. They swarm until they’re back in that great massive form that towers above her. It’s whispering something fierce to Guardian that makes his choke up that syrupy blood. It drips from his chin splatters in the growing puddle on the floor. And Alt understood. 

This thing must be Judgement. Looming everywhere and making people’s mind rot with doubt and fear. It made this land rot too even after the defeat of the titans. It didn’t kill Drifter, and it didn’t kill Guardian, but damn did it certainly not make things easier for them.

Maybe this wasn’t about fame. Maybe she did care about this land she tried so hard to mistrust and merely analyze. But it didn’t change anything. She still needed to kill it.

So she swings he beam again and the the thing is howling.

“You are selfish.”, It says. She swings again and dodges the diamonds it shoots out.

“This is not enough to mark your name in history.”, It tried but she realizes she might be ok with this and she forces the diamond pellets back towards the creature with her beam. Guardian’s coughing dies down and he stands up.

“You are alone.”, It tries but Guardian comes over and swings his sword with all his might and it screams.

They both dodge and swing together, the static words dying out until the clouds disperse and cease to exist.

“We did it.”, She says with shock. She defeated the monster down deep. It was a check to the only clear goal on her list.

“You did it.”, He says. He limps over to that bright shining stone. He touches it with blood and mucus coated fingers, smearing the fluid on that sacred stone. He waits a moment before he laughs. A great bubbling laugh that sounds gurgled and broken but oddly happy.

“It was all wrong.”, He says with a somber smile. “But he still held on hope for this. We both did.”

“What is that thing?”, She asks with confusion as she stands hesitantly next to Guardian.

“It was hope. Hope delivered by a Jackal who wanted us to come here. And what could we do but follow? What could we do but walk the only path that was in front of us…”, He says. He’s not smiling anymore. 

She stares at the fluorescent light. It burns too much up close. Much too bright to look at for too long. So she looks down at her map and makes a few notes. 

Her ears perk up as she listens to a dull crack sound from somewhere from above. It rumbles a soft noise before it’s shaking and thundering.

“We need to leave, now!”, She says as she turns to Guardian. But he isn’t listening. He’s too busy adding onto the noise with his own thundering coughs as he drops to the ground. The blood keeps puddling. Alt knew that no one could spare that much blood. She could tell that this was goodbye.

“Say hi to him. Tell him I didn’t break his promise.”, She tells Guardian.

Guardian smiles, his blood stained teeth showing behind his lips.

“I will..”, He rasps. “I will.”

He coughs one last cough before he closes his eyes. He looked peaceful to Alt. She offered him one final look before grabbing onto his body and teleporting back to the warp pad above ground.

Alt can't pick up the body so she drags it. She drags the body while the people whisper accusations but she finds she doesn't care. She dumps the body next to the grave he stopped by everyday, gets a shovel and digs.

When the body is buried and she offers a quick thanks, she looks out at the horizon and walks towards it. As she walked, she thought of more potential goals.


End file.
